Paypal invests $750mn in Latin American e-commerce firm MercadoLibre

Paypal invests $750mn in Latin American e-commerce firm MercadoLibre

PayPal has invested $750mn in Latin American e-commerce firm MercadoLibre.

MercadoLibre is a leading e-commerce company in Latin America, standing amongst the top 50 most visited websites in the world in terms of page views.

Through its six integrated e-commerce platforms including MercadoLibre, MercadoPago and MercadoEnvíos, the Argentinian company offers technology solutions that enable companies and individuals to buy, sell, announce, send and pay for goods and services over the internet.

During 2018, MercadoLibre sold more than 334mn items, amounting to over US$12 billion of gross merchandise volume (GMV).

“Digital commerce in Latin America is experiencing tremendous growth and MercadoLibre is well-positioned for continued leadership,” said Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal.

“We’ve been impressed with the digital commerce and payments ecosystem Marcos and his team have built. We see great opportunities to integrate our respective capabilities to create unique and valuable payment experiences for our combined 500 million customers throughout the region and around the world.”

Investment firm Dragoneer also invested $100mn in the Latin American firm.

MercadoLibre said it plans to use the funds to "continue expanding its e-commerce platform, to strengthen its logistics infrastructure, and to invest in solutions that further solidify the company's position as a powerful provider of inclusive end-to-end financial technology and payments solutions."

“Over the past 20 years, we have heavily invested in developing the preeminent e-commerce and FinTech ecosystem in Latin America,” added Marcos Galperin, CEO of Mercado Libre.

“We are excited to welcome these investments which will allow us to significantly accelerate our growth. We look forward to accelerating our leadership in ecommerce and payments and foster financial inclusion in Latin America as a result of our alliance with a global leader in the industry such as PayPal.”